Candle and method of making



Feb. 3, 1953 w. wEGLlN A CANDLE AND METHOD 0F MAKING Filed 001'.. 28,1949 INVENTOR. lfer /Vfgf//H/ @Mmmm H VOIP/VFY Patented Feb. 3, 1953UNITED stars TENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

The present invention relates generallyY to candles and moreparticularly to an improved candle, and method of making it, adapted toproduce polychromatic drippings during burning.

Heretofore attempts have been made to produce candles of enhanceddecorative effect by coloring the exterior of an ordinary candle withpaint or the like. Such candles have not gone into general commercialuse for various reasons; with some the coats of outer coloring are toodifcult and expensive to apply. They frequently have a tendency to peeloff and usually require the application of varnish or shellac, whichemits a most unpleasant odor when the candle is burned. Any decorativeappearance that such candles may originally possess tends to bedestroyed, rather than enhanced, as the candle burns. Their drippingsare generally of only a single natural wax color and these tend tostream down the candle at only one or two random points, accumulating inunsightly clusters as they cool. Colored flame candles are known butthey do not improve the decorative effect of the candle body and whenthe flame is extinguished the candle is of merely ordinary appearance.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a candle, and methodof making it, which -produces drippings of many different beautiful huesor colors upon burning. In a preferred embodiment means is providedwhereby the drippings may be distributed at desired locations around theexterior of the candle, instead of accumulating in a cluster on merelyone side as with the drippings of previous or conventional candles. v

`An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedcandle and method of making.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved candlewhich is adapted to produce colored drippings when burned.

Another object of the invention is to provide a candle which producesdrippings controllably distributed about its exterior when burned.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a candle ofrelatively simple manufacture which produces polychromatic drippings anddistributes them as desired about the candle exterior when burned.

A still further object of the invention is to f Vone skilled in the artupon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings,forming a part of the specication, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a partially burned candle embodying thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the present candle, partly in section,showing it at an early stage of manufacture;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the candle at a later stage of manufacturewith color producing material added;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational View of the candle at a still laterstage of manufacture, showing a wick arrangement;

Fig. 4a is an enlarged fragmentary view of Fig. 4, illustrating more orless diagrammatically the formation and distribution of drippings;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a finished candle before burning;

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary elevational views of slightly modifiedwick arrangements generally along the lines of that shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified method of makingthe candle;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of another form of the invention; and

Fig. 10 is a side elevation illustrating a candle of different exteriorconguration into which the present candle may be formed.

In Fig. 1 there is illustrated a candle embodying the present inventionwhich has been partially burned. The drippings I, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 maybe of any desired color, for example, brown, gold, green, blue, purpleand red, and extend down along the candle body 1. It will be noted thatthe drippings are distributed about the surface of the candle giving apleasing artistic effect; they do not conglommerate at one side into alarge single unsightly mass. The construction and. method of making thecandle of Fig. 1 will now be described.

As shown in Fig. 2 the candle l, formed by dipping, molding orotherwise, has a recess 8 adjacent its upper part. This recess may beprovided by a mold or a solidly formed candle may be used and the recessprovided by drilling or other suitable means. A wick 9 is shownextending through the center of the candle and lying loosely in therecess 8. The wick 9 is preferably longer than the overall length of thecandle body portionso that it may be extended through an opening oraperture I t adjacent the lower part of the recess 8 and subsequentlyarranged about the candle, as will be later described. After the wick 9is placed through the opening I0 as shown in Fig. 3, the candle is readyfor insertion i of color-producing elements or agents I2 illustratedoccupying about the upper third of the candle in Fig. 3. These elementsmay be of different colors and for convenience of description will bereferred to as pellets While the pellets I2 may be composed of anysuitable materials and proportions, very satisfactory results have beenachieved by utilizing about 30% by weight of stearic acid and about 70%by Weight of paraffin. The paraffin may be heated until it is fluid andthen stearic acid, flakes or powder, added in the proper proportions;this is preferably colored while in the fluid state by adding a suitablycolored dye, for example an oil dye such as a Baco dye. To form gold orsilver colored pellets, bronze or aluminum powder, respectively, ismixed in with the stearic acid and the paraflin. The liquid material maybe cast in appropriate molds or may be cooled into sheets and then thepellets i2 punched out of the sheet.

Any number of pellets in any variety of colors may be used. Asatisfactory embodiment has sixteen pellets arranged in the followingsequence, from the top down: light blue, dark blue, purple, gold,yellow, gold, white, brown, gold, white, purple, gold, green, white,red, and maroon. It is considered artistically desirable to intersperselight colors, particularly lwhite pellets, so as to obtain more delicateshadings, hues, and separations. The pellets may be insertedindividually linto the top of the recess 8 and forced down. A

space or pocket II is preferably provided at the lower part of therecess to facilitate burning the candle even after the colors have beendistribu-ted thereon and this will be further brought out hereinafter.After the pellets have been inserted n a desired arrangement, wax-likematerial Iza is poured on or placed over the top of the candle, thussealing the recess 8. The colored pellets are now completely concealedwithin the candle.

Thereafter, the wick is arranged or wrapped around the exterior of theportion of the candle which contains the colors, as shown in Fig. 4. Agroove may be previously provided to receive the wick or it may bearranged again-st the smooth surface of the candle and pressed againstit. A tightly braided wick has proven most satisfactory for the purpose.In the preferredv method, the wick is positioned around the candle in anascending step configuration. It may be spotted to the body of thecandle by the application of blobs of wax-like material and then securedpermanently in place by dipping the candle into molten wax-likematerial. The grooves cut into the walls of the candle in advancesimplify the problem of positioning the wick and require fewer dippingsin order to conceal the wick under a smooth external coating. At theupper part of the candle the Wick is placed centrally of the candle bodyso that its free end terminates in an end portion I3 at the usuallocation for a candle. The final operation may comprise repeatedlydipping the candle and allowing it to cool in successive operationsuntil outer wax jacket indicated by the dot-dash line of Fig. 4 has beenbuilt up. The finished candle is shown in Fig. 5.

Referring again to Figs. 4 and 4a, it will be seen that as the wickburns, lit follows a step pattern, burning alternately vertically andhorizontally along the candle. The wick tends toburn. slowly on thevertical risers and more rapidly on the horizontal portions and dripsconsiderably. Greater melting and dripping of the wax-like materialsseems to occur during burning of a horizontal portion and less duringburning of a riser. Melting wax from the pellets I2 tends to run downthe sides of the candle in channels or grooves created during burning Ofa Vertical riser and tends toy do so only at these locations. Toillustrate, assume that the flame burns down the Vertical leg I4 of thewick shown in Fig. 4a; as it burns down the leg gravity induces themelted wax to drip along the groove Ida indicated by the dot-dash lines,probably because the top surface of the candle is lowest at the pointwhere it is being burned. When the flame reaches point I5 it burnsaround a corner of the wick to horizontal leg I 6; during this intervala slight pocket I9 seems to form, as indicated generally by the brokenline 20, in the side of the candle underneath and to one side ef pointI5. o

As the wick burns along the horizontal portion or leg i6, the meltingcolored Wax tends to ow toward the pocket I9 and down the channel I4aformed during burning of vertical leg I4. The melted wax or wax-likematerial seems to be partly sucked down by the stream of wax alreadydripping along the channel. A preferably tightly braided wick causes thehorizontal wick portions to remain so during burning thereof. When theflame reaches vertical leg I1, another channel I'Ia for the drippings iscreated, as described. These cycles continue until the wick burns downto the bottom of the recess 8. The recess or chamber II then allows thewick to burn the candle oli horizontally to a substantially evencondition. Thereafter the wick 9 burns in the conventional manner at thecenter of the candle and the previously formed colored drippings aregradually remelted andrtend to again flow further down along the candle.

It will be seen that by spacing the steps around the candle, preferablyuniformly,y the drippings are distributed around the circumference ofthe candle and do not tend to run down only one side of the candle. Thesuccessive melting of the differently colored wax pellets creates abeautiful ever-changing and continually developing color pattern ofblue, green, gold, purple, yellow, brown, red or any other desiredcolored drippings. As burning continues, some of the colored drippingstend to mingle with others to give a variegated changing pattern. Theoverall effect produced is exceedingly pleasing to the eye. The numberof wick steps and lengths of the vertical and horizontal steps thereofmay be varied as desired to obtain various distributions of drippings`around the candle. Either a right hand or left hand winding may beemployed for the wick.

As was set forth previously, material such as bronze or aluminum powdermay' be mixed with other ingredients to form the gold colored or silvercolored pellets. In some instances these powders tend to reactunfavorably upon coming into direct contact with a glowing candle wickin that they either may fuse into scales or clinkeis extinguishing thewick, or may burn intensely, emitting great heat so as to melt theentire candle. By locating the Wick adjacent the outer portion of thepellets, as in the preferred embodiment, rather than through their midportions, these difficulties may be minimized or prevented.

Alternative wick arrangements are shown in i Figs. 6 and 7. In Fig. 6, asort of reverse Z step has been substituted for the straight stepconfiguration. This alternative method has been found to be quitesatisfactory, producing distributed drippings similar to that of Figs. 1and 4. In Fig. 7 a spiral arrangement or winding is disclosed; this isnot quite as desirable as the others aord closer control of thedistribution of the drippings.

There is shown in Fig. 8 an alternative method of making the candle. Arecess I8 is cut or formed at one side of the candle 'l and the col oredwax pellets 12b are inserted directly into the side of the candle bodyas illustrated. The recess is then sealed by the application of wax andthe successive operations are similar to those described heretofore.

A modified candle construction is shown in Fig. 9. The wick |3c extendsstraight through the central part of the candle, including the coloredpellets I2c. This embodiment lacks the same controlled drippings of theembodiment with the generally spiralled wick and as stated heretofore,diiculty is sometimes encountered with this vertical wick in burningthrough the bronze powder used in a gold colored pellet; sometimes aclinker tends to form and extinguish the wick or the powder tends toignite and burn so intensely as to melt the entire candle.

While any suitable wax or wax-like materials may be used to make thebody portions of the candles, as distinguished from the colored pellets,excellent results have been achieved by using about 60% by weight ofstearic acid and about 40% by weight parafn. Beeswax may be added tothese materials if the candles are to be used for religious purposes.

The invention and methods disclosed herein are equally adaptable to usein novelty candles of varying shapes and designs, such as candles madein the form of Christmas trees as in Fig. 10.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a new and improvedcandle, and method of making it, which produces a very pleasing effectduring burning. The colored drippings or streams are controllable inthat they may be distributed at desired locations around the candle sothat the candle during and after burning exhibits a plurality ofdifferent colored zones or areas. Any of numerous color combinations maybe employed and the colors may be concealed within the candle so thatthe latter presents the appearance of an ordinary or conventionalcandle. If desired, the differently colored layers or zones may beexposed to View instead of being concealed within the body of thecandle.

During burning, the melting color streams present an ever-changing colorcombination. When colored zones at the upper part of a candle have beenentirely melted through, additional burning of the candle remelts thecolor streams distributed around the candle and they run further downthe candle to provide additional variegated color combinations. Metalliccolors may be provided, as described, by utilizing bronze powder,aluminum powder or the like for certain of the colored zones; excellentresults are obtained with such materials due to the sparkling or aliveeiects produced thereby and clinkering or burning of the metallic powderis minimized by locating the wick adjacent the outer portions of suchcolors, rather than through their mid portions.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustra tiveand not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

Cil

1. A combustible candle comprising a lower portion having a wickextending centrally thereof, an upper portion including a plurality oflayers of material adapted to form colored drippngs, and a wickextending generally spirally about said layers of material.

2. A candle as claimed in claim l, in which a chamber is located beneatha lowermost of said layers of material for facilitating melting of thecandle to an even condition subsequent to molting of the layers ofmaterial.

3. In a candle, a plurality of centrally disposed zones of materialalong a portion of said candle adapted to form colored drippings, andwick means extending generally lengthwise of and in a step-likespiralabout outwardly disposed portions of said zones of material, saidstep-like spiral including upwardly extending portions that are inclinedaway from the Vertical.

4. In a combustible candle, a plurality of centrally disposed zones ofmaterial along a portion of said candle adapted to form coloreddrippings, and wick means extending generally lengthwise of and in astepped spiral around said zones of material.

5. A candle, wick means extending generally lengthwise of the candle, aplurality of different color Zones of wax-like meltable materialdisposed in superposed relationship lengthwise of the longitudinal axisof the candle along at least a portion thereof, a peripherally disposedlayer of material overlying said zones of material, said wick meansextending along the length of said candle and said plurality of zones ofmeltable material and being adapted to successively form coloreddrippings and drippings from said peripheral layer, said coloreddrippings from the superposed different color zones and drippings fromsaid peripheral layer running successively down during burning of thecandle and providing areas colored generally in accordance with that ofthe particular zone adjacent a burning end of the wick zone.

6. The method of making a candle of the class described which comprisesforming a candle body and providing adjacent an upper centrally disposedportion thereof a recess with an upwardly opening end, inserting intothe recess through said upwardly opening end, and pressing down into therecess a plurality of portions of differently colored material, andarranging a wick generally lengthwise of and spirally about saidportions of differently colored material.

7. A candle as claimed in claim 5, in which said plurality of colorzones of material is located adjacent an upper portion of the candle,and the Wick means at said zones of material has a plurality of portionsspaced vertically from each other and extending generallycircumferentially of the candle.

WALTER WEGLIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,428,940 Brinker et al Sept. 12,1922 1,596,017 Harmsen Aug. 17, 1926 2,464,361 Wilson Mar. l5, 1949FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 5,902 Great Britain 1897 i ll

